Faye kept her gaze locked on Kael, but she could feel the weight of the battlefield below—a restless, bleeding land filled with the echoes of war.
The golden-eyed rider's vanishing act still burned in her mind, but she had no answers. Not yet.
Talis flew in steady silence, his frost-coated wings carrying them toward the jagged cliffs of Stormhold Ridge, where their forces were regrouping.
Kael and Voidfang remained beside her, his silver-eyed stare unreadable as ever.
But where was—
"Riven should have been here by now."
Kael's expression darkened. "He will be."
Faye didn't miss the slight edge in his voice. Not concern. Certainty.
And Kael was rarely wrong.
Even still, unease crept into her chest.
Riven and Onyx had been caught in the thick of battle before she and Talis were forced into their own aerial duel. The last she'd seen of them, Riven was cutting through enemy riders with ruthless precision, lightning crackling in Onyx's wake.
But then the storm had swallowed everything.
A sharp whistle cut through the air—short, distinct.
Kael's head snapped up.
Voidfang rumbled low in his throat.
Faye turned just in time to see a dark shape descending from the storm-choked sky.
A massive form—battered, bloodstained, but very much alive.
Onyx.
The black thunder dragon's wings flared as he descended in a spiral, his scaled body illuminated by faint streaks of violet lightning.
Riven was still astride his back, one hand gripping the reins, the other pressed to a wound on his side.
But his expression was still one of grim determination.
Faye exhaled sharply. "Took you long enough."
Riven snorted. "Had to make sure they remembered my name."
His voice was rough, but his smirk was intact.
Faye barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
Kael simply stared.
Not at Riven, but at his wound.
Faye followed his gaze, her own stomach tightening. The gash was deep, jagged—not a clean cut from a sword, but something worse.
Riven noticed their stares and sighed.
"Before you ask—no, it wasn't a blade. It wasn't fire. It was…" He hesitated.
For the first time, Faye saw something uncertain flicker across his face.
That wasn't like Riven.
"It was like the air itself turned against me."
Kael's expression didn't change, but Faye saw the subtle shift in his posture.
A tension that hadn't been there before.
Faye inhaled slowly. "Like a force moving through the storm?"
Riven nodded. "More than that. It felt like it was watching me. Studying."
A cold silence fell over them.
Faye's thoughts returned to the golden-eyed rider—the way he had vanished into the dark, the way his presence had rippled through the air like something unnatural.
This wasn't a coincidence.
Something was hunting them.
And it was just getting started.